One Curious Thing

No. 008 WED 07 OCT 2026

No. 008 WED 07 OCT 2026

There is a lake where storms gather four nights out of five.

Lake Maracaibo — Zulia, Venezuela · 9.75°N 71.65°W

Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela has the highest density of lightning recorded anywhere on Earth. Sixteen years of satellite observations show night-time thunderstorms developing over it on about 297 days a year, as mountain, lake and sea breezes converge over its warm water. Locals have a name for it: the Relámpago del Catatumbo.

Why it’s interesting

Fig. 008 365 ticks, one for each night of the year. The 297 long ticks are the average number of nights with storms.

Why it’s interesting

Lightning feels like the definition of random. Here it is almost scheduled — anchored to one place by geography, predictable enough to have a name.

The longer version

The finding comes from a 2016 study in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society that mapped every lightning flash seen by the Lightning Imaging Sensor aboard the TRMM satellite, at a resolution of about 10 kilometres.

The storms are extremely localised. Because they keep forming in the same place, night after night, the flashes pile up into the planet’s top lightning hotspot. Several other inland lakes with similar night-time conditions — including Lake Victoria — rank near the top of the same list.

Edition
No. 008
Date
Wednesday 7 October 2026
Subject
Lake Maracaibo
Locality
Zulia, Venezuela · 9.75°N 71.65°W
Period
TRMM satellite record, 1998–2013
Field
earth
Evidence
2 sources, 1 primary

See how we got here

Selected from 21 candidates

  1. 01 Volcanic lightning
  2. 02 Atmospheric electricity
  3. 03 Global flash-rate maps
  4. 04 Lightning hotspots
  5. 05 Lake Maracaibo 297 storm nights a year
  6. → There is a lake where storms gather four nights out of five.

Sources

Nothing publishes without independent sources. How we verify →

  1. 1
    Where Are the Lightning Hotspots on Earth?

    Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (Albrecht et al.) · 2016 · peer reviewed Primary

    Lake Maracaibo ranks first; nocturnal thunderstorms on 297 days per year on average.

    doi.org

  2. 2
    Catatumbo lightning

    Wikipedia · reference

    The local name and the phenomenon’s history.

    en.wikipedia.org

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